Newark boarding home shut down after senator, mayor make surprise visit

Residents at the Jassil Family Care boarding home sit in the day room and watch TV. Newark, NJ 3/27/14

NEWARK — A week after state inspectors found no violations, a Newark boarding home where several dozen former psychiatric patients live was shut down by the city yesterday after an unannounced visit by state Sen. Richard Codey and Mayor Luis Quintana revealed a number of problems, including an unlocked medicine cabinet, faulty electrical wiring and an apparent rodent infestation.

The owner, Tajinder Jassil of Bound Brook, was told he had to immediately relocate the 35 residents. Some of the men and women were taken to University Hospital in Newark for medical treatment, but the majority were bused to other boarding homes, Thomas McDonald, the city’s code enforcement manager, said last night.

The city shut down the home not for health and building code violations, but because Jassil has not been permitted to operate a boarding home at the location since 2003, when he was granted zoning approval for six apartments, McDonald said.

The home, located on 3rd Avenue in the North Ward, will remain shut until Jassil makes the necessary repairs and gets approval from the city planning board to reopen.

Codey (D-Essex), a former governor, led the ambush-style visit at 7:30 a.m. to shed light on what he says are subpar living conditions for homeless people with severe mental illness. This is the third time he has conducted raid-like visits at boarding homes, shelters and residential health care facilities with inspectors, mental health professionals and reporters in tow.

Codey has made mental health issues a priority of his agenda both as a state senator and governor.

When Jassil arrived around 9:30 a.m., Codey angrily led him on a tour, pointing out rotting food, non-functioning smoke detectors, crack vials on a bedroom floor, rodent droppings and mattresses and other garbage piled in the front of the property. Among the most serious issues Codey cited was an unlocked medicine cabinet stocked with prescription medications used by the residents.

"You don’t treat the people you are making money off like this. These are people who need help. It’s unacceptable," Codey said.

Jassil nodded and quietly replied, "Yes, sir."

He declined to speak to The Star-Ledger during the visit and did not return a call for comment afterward.

Most of the residents living in the house pay rent, which is deducted from their Social Security disability checks. That amount is at least $700 a month, said Robert Davison, executive director of the Mental Health Association who accompanied Codey. The residents are not supervised and may come and go as they please.

"He’s making a lot of money," Davison said of the landlord.

Davison estimated that in the past decade, 10 percent of those discharged from state psychiatric hospitals wind up "in housing stock like this — in boarding homes and residential health care facilities. About half of it is fine, but 50 percent is unsanitary and deplorable, like we saw today."

State Human Services spokeswoman Nicole Brossoie said three patients discharged from state psychiatric hospitals had relocated to this boarding home. Only 182 of the 1,930 people discharged from hospitals in the last two years were sent to boarding houses and residential health care facilities, which are similar to boarding homes but provide more supervision.

Codey also criticized the state Department of Community Affairs, which renewed the building’s license March 12 without finding any violations, according to the inspection report that was hung on a bulletin board in the office.

"Must have been a drive-by," Codey said.

The licensing for boarding homes is controlled by the state, though the municipality in which the home is located is responsible for enforcing building and health codes.

Quintana said he intended to speak to the city council about introducing an ordinance that would give city inspectors some legal oversight over the city’s 13 boarding homes.

"They would either comply or get shut down," he said.

Community Affairs spokeswoman Lisa Ryan said a state inspector returned to the boarding home yesterday. Exposed wiring was found, which the owner has promised to fix, she said.

"At about 12:30 p.m. today, our evaluator confirmed the presence of adequate hot-water service, ample food supplies, heat, and all resident medications were stored in a locked cabinet," Ryan wrote in an email. "This owner also maintains a closed-circuit camera surveillance system to monitor the common areas and exterior at all times. We consider this responsible action."